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The 4th Annual South Dakota Peach Festival - Sioux Falls

Jun 17, 2017 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

The world’s largest peach cobbler will be served at the 4th annual South Dakota Peach Festival this year, but it is more than just a peach cobbler to Rich Bennett and his team of volunteer bakers.

Ever since Bennett was appointed head baker for the cobbler by a county commissioner at The Georgia Peach Festival in 2007, it has become a huge success. The cobbler is so large that it takes Rich, his family, and his large group of volunteers roughly five hours to complete!

The cobbler is made from scratch on site before the festival. It is truly a group effort, as they start by dividing the ingredients into five workstations, with six to eight people working together at each station, to make the mind-blowing masterpiece. The process for baking the cobbler is quite unique, as it is baked in a brick oven that was specifically constructed just for the cobbler itself.

The cobbler measures 11 feet by 5 feet and about 8 inches deep. It is made using 90 pounds of butter, 150 pounds of sugar, 150 pounds of flour, 32 gallons of milk and the cobbler’s best ingredient, 75 gallons of The Fruit Club peaches. The cobbler's other ingredients are purchased by sponsors.

Guests are encouraged to try the cobbler, as it is a huge hit to many peach loving fans and free for everyone attending. Many guests of The Peach Festival from the previous years even consider the cobbler to be the highlight of the entire event. Since there is such a mass quantity of cobbler available, there will be enough for everyone.

"I really enjoy this," said Bennett. "It's a lot of fun. What I like best is the amazement from people when they see how big it is. That makes it worth the labor we put into it."

You can see and taste the world’s largest peach cobbler at the 4th Annual South Dakota Peach Festival, located at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. The cobbler will be served on Saturday, June 17 at 12PM and on Sunday, June 18 at 2PM. Admission is free, as well as the cobbler, and other activities will be going on, with proceeds benefiting Special Olympics.

The South Dakota Peach Festival would like to thank their local sponsors who helped to make this event possible due to the generous donations they have received. For more information on The South Dakota Peach Festival, visit southdakotapeachfestival.com.